Mascot

　　Shanghai Expo unveils its mascot 'Haibao'。World Expo Shanghai has chosen an imaginary character as its mascot. The blue little person last debuted at the unveiling gala at Shanghai Grand Stage.

　　The mascot "Hai Bao" debuts at the unveiling gala at Shanghai Grand Stage

　　World Expo Shanghai has chosn a " " (people)-shaped imaginary character as its mascot. The blue little person last debuted at the unveiling gala at Shanghai Grand Stage.

　　The mascot "Haibao," which means the treasure of the seas, is another Expo symbol created from Chinese character following the Expo emblem in the shape of (world).

　　With the falling of the dominoes as well as the magnificent sound and light effect, the image of Expo mascot was showed in a surprisingly eye-catching way as the organizers promised.

　　The licensed product of Haibao will be availed in three authorized outlets this morning in Shanghai.

　　As most of the mascot of World Expo, Haibao was an imaginary object which created from the Chinese character " ," meaning people. The mascot manifests a "people-oriented" sprit and tells the public "people" the foundation to build a better life, the organizers explained.

　　The theme of Shanghai Expo is "Better City, Better Life." The structure of Chinese character, in which two strokes support each other, manifests the concept that a good life should be created by all the people. The world should be supported by "people," and people should have harmonious relationships with nature and society, so that the life in cities would be better.

　　The image of the mascot is simple and easy to remember. Though it is a single mascot, with the different motions and costumes, it could also have various appearances, the organizers said.

　　The blue color represents the water, which also speaks that Haibao is from a costal city Shanghai.

　　The final winner is selected out of 26,655 entries from the four-month worldwide public solicitation for the mascot idea which was launch on January 17.

　　Instead of asking designated teams to create the mascots, like most of the other World Expos and Olympics, the organizers launched a public solicitation to hear what common people think.

　　The staff of the mascot selection office traveled to more than 50 cities in China and across the world. It also did a door-to-door promotion to over 80,000 people, asking them to submit ideas for the Expo mascot.

　　They talked with 1,500-plus designing companies, 800-plus advertising companies, 1,000-plus animation companies and 200-plus colleges, and get their support for the mascot solicitation.

　　Among the 26,655 entries to the Expo, the youngest person to submit an entry was only three years old, and the oldest was 83.

　　About seven percent of the entries are designed by children less than 10 years old. The designers are of all kinds of professions, including students, retired people, sportsmen, nurses, designers, clerks, painters, writers, teachers and actors. Nearly 70 percent of the designers are from eastern costal cities.

　　An 11-man selection jury chose the idea of a local designing company -Yokan Corporate Identity- to use the Chinese character as the mascot.

　　The 11 judges are the experts of arts, design, culture, sales and cartoon, from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan as well as Japan, Italy and Portugal, the organizers said. The whole selection process, notarized by official institutions, is objective and fair.

　　The revising jury led by local designer Shao Longtu then revised the original entry into the current mascot after a three-month discussion.

　　The mascot design was passed on the Fifth Meeting of Expo's Organizing Committee presided by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi on September 24.

　　Haibao is confident, lovely, happy, witty and lively. Its hair is like the wave of the sea; its motion shows his generosity and hospitality; he thumbs up to show the appreciation and warm welcome to the friends from all over the world.

　　His smile manifests an optimistic spirit and a will to showcase the achievement of world's civilization. Haibao is expressing his sincere greeting from China -- "World Expo 2010 Shanghai China welcomes you!"

　　Expo countdown gets under way

　　A huge countdown clock started ticking off the seconds, hours and days to the 2010 World Expo today in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. The steel clock stands in front of the National Museum of China, where the Beijing Olympic countdown clock was and another two that marked the return of Macau and Hong Kong to the motherland. When the curtain goes up on Expo next May 1, the clock will display the number of Expo visitors each day. Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo started the countdown clock at a ceremony which was attended by government leaders and enthusiastic members of the public.

　　Wu, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, extended his congratulations on the Expo preparations and expressed his gratitude to those toiling behind the scenes for Expo. China aims to present an Expo that demonstrates the progress of human civilization, thus promoting world peace and prosperity, enhancing friendship between the Chinese people and people all over the world, expanding exchange and cooperation and spurring the Chinese people to strive for a better society, Wu noted. He said the 2010 Expo with the theme "Better City, Better Life" will display the fruits of urban civilization and promote the concept of urban development. It will be a platform for people to exchange experiences of urban construction and discuss urban and rural coordinated development, a better environment, a healthy lifestyle and sustainable development, he added. Wu said the Chinese Government and people have made a commitment to host a "successful, splendid and unforgettable" event. He promised that the organizer would make every effort for the event and strengthen cooperation with all participants.

　　Wu invited people from all over the world to visit Expo and welcomed media coverage.

　　Volunteers get a sign, a slogan and a song

　　Shanghai unveiled its World Expo volunteer logo today - it includes the Chinese character for heart, the letter "V" and a dove of peace carrying an olive branch. The character "心" is to reflect the warm-hearted spirit of the volunteers who will serve the participants and visitors and the letter V stands for "volunteer." The dove and the olive branch convey a message of peace, friendship, sustainable development and hope, an extension of the "Better City, Better Life" theme.

　　The logo was unveiled on the 400-day countdown to the opening of Expo 2010 by Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng at the Wusa Monument Square in Huangpu District, near Nanjing Road E. The logo is the third Expo symbol using a Chinese character after the Expo emblem itself which is shaped like "世" (world) and the mascot Haibao, a cartoon figure in the shape of the Chinese character "人."

　　As well Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng announced that "At Your Service At Expo" has been chosen as the volunteer slogan for Shanghai World Expo. It has three sub-logos -- "My Will, My Help, My Pleasure," "2010, We're Together As One" and "Our City, Your Joy."

　　The winning logo and slogan were selected from 15,717 entries after a 147-day search wrapped up in April last year. About 10 percent of the suggestions came from overseas. An online vote for the 10 finalists was held at the end of last year.

　　At the announcement the Hong Kong singer Eason Chan Yik-Shun sang "By Your Side," the volunteer song for Expo 2010.